This article explores the ‘moral turn’ in contemporary sociological theory, positioning it as a response to the global crisis of democracy and the erosion of civil society. I argue that beyond institutional (or ‘hard’) democracy, the sustainability of democratic life depends on the moral fabric – or ‘moral space’ – that underpins civil society, constituted by values such as trust, reciprocity, solidarity and justice. As populism and authoritarianism gain traction globally, these moral underpinnings are increasingly threatened. Against this backdrop, contemporary sociological theorists are returning to foundational moral questions, not by imposing normative codes, but by uncovering value systems embedded in social practices and human interactions. This article examines this shift through three major theorists, who respectively advocate for a cosmopolitan morality grounded in empathy and tolerance toward diversity, promote a gift paradigm emphasizing reciprocity as a basis for convivial social life, and identify moral injury and misrecognition as key drivers of social struggle and transformation. Ultimately, the moral turn reflects the renewed ethical responsibility of social scientists to act as public intellectuals, restoring the normative vision of a just and democratic society from within sociological inquiry itself.

English–medium instruction (EMI) has become a highly contested topic in discussions on the language of instruction policies in the Global South, raising critical questions about whether it truly delivers on the promises made in policy rhetoric and public discourse. While EMI is often promoted as a pathway to social, educational, and economic success for all, its rapid expansion raises concerns about linguistic inequality, social stratification, and unequal educational access. Through a critical synthesis of recent EMI literature, this paper identifies some persistent misconceptions that underpin the promotion and expansion of EMI in the Global South. These include the presumed neutrality of English, the belief in its automatic pedagogical and economic benefits, and the assumption that EMI leads to equitable access and improved content learning. The paper highlights the ideological and material consequences of EMI, such as epistemic injustice, linguistic hierarchies and social reproduction. In doing so, it calls for a rethinking of EMI beyond instrumentalist and Anglocentric logics and urges the centering of linguistic diversity, multilingual pedagogies and critical policy orientations. The article concludes with implications for future EMI scholarship and practices, particularly in contexts marked by deep social, linguistic and educational inequalities.

The main goal of this paper is to introduce a new model of evolvement of beliefs on networks. It generalizes the DeGroot model and describes the iterative process of establishing the consensus in isolated social networks in the case of nonlinear aggregation functions. Our main tools come from mean theory and graph theory. The case, when the root set of the network (influencers, news agencies, etc.) is ergodic is fully discussed. The other possibility, when the root contains more than one component, is partially discussed and it could be a motivation for further research.

This study examines the effects of cue validity, proficiency, and immersion experience on the predictive processing of there-associated nouns in expletive sentences. A visual-world eye-tracking task manipulated the validity of the predictive cue by varying verb number (singular; plural) and aspect (simple; perfect): For example, There {is/are/has been/have been} just {one apple/two apples}. The results show that both L1 speakers and L2 learners predicted the target nouns within the predictive region. However, the prediction speed slowed down as cue validity decreased: Singular verbs with the perfect aspect elicited the slowest predictions, followed by singular verbs with the simple aspect and then plural verbs, regardless of the aspect. Furthermore, immersion experience, and not proficiency, affected the L2 predictive processing, with only immersed learners exhibiting predictive patterns. These results suggest that both L1 speakers and L2 learners engage in prediction, but the robustness/timing of their predictions is influenced by linguistic and individual factors.

Building on a newly compiled database of all extant respondentia contracts from Manila’s notarial protocols between 1736 and 1800, this article examines the overlooked role that the Manila correspondencia played as the crucial private-order institutional mechanism financing Manila’s long-distance silver trade. This instrument organized the structure of long-distance capital flows stretching out from Manila across its intra-Asian and trans-Pacific commercial lines, allowing investors to make claims on future returns and apportion risks in the absence of an adequate public-order institutional framework for high volumes of exchange. Combining the respondentia dataset with account books for institutional lenders (the obras pías), we argue that the Manila correspondencia’s contractual elements offered a specific solution to the Fundamental Problem of Exchange between Asia and the Americas. The contract’s flexibility proved ideal for Manila’s diverse combination of individual and institutional investors to participate in the profits of cross-cultural trade, while offering security and guarantees.

Dinoflagellates play a key ecological role in marine environments, contributing significantly to primary production and, in some cases, causing harmful algal blooms (HABs). They exhibit diverse morphologies and ecological strategies to colonize a wide range of habitats. Research has predominantly focused on HAB-forming species due to their associated health risks, potentially underrepresenting benthic diversity. In this study, we bring the first report of the unarmored benthic dinoflagellate Bispinodinium angelaceum from a sandy-bottom tide pool in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Morphological identification was based on the observation of live cells using light microscopy (LM) to identify diagnostic features such as dorsoventral cell flattening, a centrally located epicone with a circular apical groove, symmetrical cingulum, brownish-yellow lobular chloroplasts, and a U-shaped spinoid apparatus connecting two lateral pyrenoids. B. angelaceum specimens from Tenerife were slightly larger when compared to previous descriptions but exhibited consistent proportions and structural organization which likely reflected methodological rather than taxonomical differences. This new record extends the known geographic range of the species and provides valuable baseline data for future ecological and taxonomic studies of benthic dinoflagellates, emphasizing the need to better explore and document the hidden diversity of non-HAB taxa.

This essay argues that understanding Black philanthropic histories recasts Black people from being mere recipients to donors. This recasting demonstrates how and where Black people resisted racism, sought transformation of themselves and society, and took approaches that were not always liberatory and transformational in their giving. This essay fills a gap in the literature on the politics of philanthropy which, to date, has omitted a direct focus on Black philanthropists. By focusing on the philanthropic traditions of Black people, the myth of Black people being only recipients is dismantled. The argument proceeds in three steps. First, I provide a definition of Black philanthropy. This definition reveals that Black philanthropy historically has been viewed as expansive and shaped by the conditions Black people faced. Second, I examine select examples of Black philanthropy through the framework offered by the expansive definition. Third, I review current Black philanthropists and offer pathways for a future research agenda.

This article examines the evolving category of yellow music in the People’s Republic of China from the Maoist era to the early reform period, with a focus on the reception and regulation of Teresa Teng’s music. It argues that yellow music was not a static or CCP-invented concept, but one that expanded and contracted in response to shifting political climates and ideological campaigns. Drawing on archival documents, official newspapers, and autobiographical accounts, this article explores how the label “yellow” was applied to a wide range of musical styles and examines how this shaped public musical consumption. Instead of framing yellow music listening as an explicit form of resistance, this article highlights how such practices reflected unmet emotional and esthetic needs. The entry and eventual state appropriation of Teng’s music illustrate both the cultural consequences of the Cold War and the CCP’s adaptable approach to cultural governance. Teng’s widespread popularity helped revive suppressed traditions of individual emotion and love in music, and her gradual rehabilitation reveals a negotiated space between official ideology and popular demand. Ultimately, this article sheds light on the dynamic interplay between state control, listener agency, and global influence in socialist and post-socialist China.

For bounded operators on Kreĭn spaces, isometric or unitary dilations always exist. We prove that any minimal isometric or unitary dilation has a precise geometrical structure. Moreover, a bounded operator T has a unique minimal unitary dilation if and only if T and $T^*$ have unique minimal isometric dilation if and only if T is either contractive or expansive and $T^*$ is either contractive or expansive. Passing to the bi-dimensional case, a minimal unitary extension (in short, m.u.e.) $U=(U_1, U_2)$ is obtained for a pair $V=(V_1, V_2)$ of commuting bounded isometries on a Kreĭn space. There is a link with the one-dimensional case: if U is an m.u.e. for $V,$ then $U_1U_2$ is an m.u.e. for $V_1V_2$. Also, if $(V_1V_2)^*$ is either contractive or expansive, then V has a unique minimal unitary extension. A minimal regular isometric dilation is obtained for a commuting pair $T=(T_1, T_2)$ of bounded operators on a Kreĭn space such that $T_1,\ T_2$ are contractions and T is a bidisc contraction or $T_1,\ T_2$ are expansions and T is a bidisc expansion. The existence of a minimal unitary extension is used to provide a minimal regular unitary dilation for T. Discussions about uniqueness and geometric structure conclude the article.

The multilevel dimensions of sustainable diets associating food systems, public health, environmental sustainability, and culture are presented in this paper. It begins by defining sustainable diets as those that are healthful, have low environmental impacts, are affordable, and culturally acceptable. The discussion includes the history of research on sustainable diets, from initial studies focused on environmental impacts to more recent, comprehensive frameworks that integrate affordability, cultural relevance, and nutritional adequacy as key dimensions of diet sustainability. In addition, the paper highlights recent innovations, such as the Planetary Health Diet of EAT–Lancet and the SHARP model, and the conflicts and optimum trade-offs between sustainability and nutrition, particularly within low- and middle-income countries. Case descriptions of Mediterranean Diet with a focus on Traditional Lebanese Diet, and African Indigenous Foods demonstrate culturally confined dietary patterns associated with sustainability objectives. These examples show that sustainable diets are not a single set of prescriptions, but a series of multiple pathways that are shaped by local food environments, ecological belts, and sociocultural heritages. The paper also describes major policy and governance activities necessary to promote sustainable diets. Finally, the paper addresses measurement challenges and advocates for better indicator options to measure sustainable food systems in all their facets and for participatory and context-specific approaches. The discussion concludes that fairer and culturally diverse inclusion strategies, system change, and political determination are imperative in achieving sustainable diets. Diets able to sustain are posited as agents capable of driving the 2030 agenda, enhancing planetary health and social integrity.

In spoken language, major prosodic boundaries can be marked by three types of prosodic cues: pitch change, final lengthening, and pause. Although these cues appear cross-linguistically, their relative weight in signaling boundaries is considered language-specific. However, very little is known about prosodic phrasing in the production of Dutch. Past studies on Dutch prosodic phrasing mostly focused on boundary perception, suggesting that pause is the most important cue in Dutch. The present study examined the use of boundary cues in the production of Dutch utterance-medial intonational phrase (IP) boundaries. We investigated these boundaries in two syntactically different contexts: coordinated name sequences and compound sentences. In both contexts, the IP boundary reflects the syntactic structure of the utterance. In the name sequences, the boundary serves as the only means to disambiguate a global syntactic ambiguity, while in the compound sentences it aligns with a clause ending. Sixteen native Dutch speakers produced the target utterances with or without an IP boundary. We measured pitch height, IP-final and pre-IP-final syllable durations, and pause duration at the boundary. All three types of cues were used to mark IP boundaries, but speakers used the pause cue to a larger extent in the name sequences than in the compound sentences. Additionally, we found that final lengthening was the most consistently used IP boundary-marking cue. Our results thus challenge the notion of pause as the most dominant cue in Dutch. They suggest that pre-boundary lengthening may be the most consistently used cue, at least, from a production perspective.

China’s growing development finance gives rise to the speculation that Beijing is creating a new model of foreign aid. There are also efforts to socialise China and change Chinese-led development finance institutions (DFIs) from within. Are Chinese DFIs convergent with/divergent from traditional DFIs? What are the mechanisms that drive their convergence/divergence? This article answers the questions with the three mechanisms of isomorphism, namely the coercive, mimetic, and normative mechanisms. We focus on the prominent Chinese DFIs of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, and the two policy banks (the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China), examine their isomorphic pressures, and compare their resemblance to the traditional donors. We find that the AIIB, subject to high pressures from all of the three mechanisms, displays a strong resemblance to its Western counterparts; the NDB, subject to medium pressures, shows a less significant resemblance; the two Chinese policy banks, not subject to significant pressures, demonstrates a faint resemblance.

This article provides a close study of ‘Nice pickings’, a short piece of political disinformation generated within the London radical press. It examines the means and methods by which this became a viral text and reconstructs its pattern of circulation. It argues that, by passing rapidly and widely around a range of different media and audiences, by being susceptible to revamping and adaptation, and by providing a gateway onto a series of powerful stories already in circulation, this single paragraph illuminates some of the ways in which a national reform movement was forged in 1830.